Tubular warp-knit stockings having a mock seam



M. A. PERRIER Sheet Ill L p/Z 2 1 BY a w March 25, 1969 TUBULAR WARP-KNIT STOCKINGS HAVING A MOCK SEAM Filed Feb. 16, 1965 O Q. I Q 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00.5%. 0 b

March 25, 1969 M. A. PERR-IER TUBULAR WARP-KNIT STOCKINGS HAVING A MOCK SEAM Sheet 2 of3 Filed Feb. 16, 1965 TOR m 2-. I. y (I W ATTORNM United States Patent US. Cl. 66-181 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A tubular warp knit stocking is comprised of front and rear portions and a mock seam is provided in the middle of the rear portion of the stocking. The mock seam may be provided by substituting a warp yarn which is distinctive from the remaining warp yarns in the rear portion of the stocking or an additional warp yarn may be added at the centermost portion of the rear portion. The additional Warp yarn may be disposed adjacent to and follow the same concatenations as one of the ordinary warp yarns of the rear portion, may be provided with its own distinct concatenations or may be laid in as a straight yarn.

The present invention relates generally to tubular stockings and more particularly to tubular stockings knitted on a straight knitting machine having two needle-beds.

The tubular stockings of this type are seamless stockings. One object of the invention is to provide them with a dummy seam if requested by the fashion.

Another object of the invention is to knit at the same time on the knitting machine, the tubular stocking on the one hand, and the said dummy seam on the other hand.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a stocking with a dummy seam of very small thickness, which renders the said stocking very comfortable to wear.

These objects are accomplished on the knitting machine, by passing through a small number of guides corresponding to one of the two needle beds, one or several yarns adapted to appear distinctly on the resulting stocking, either as a result of their own characteristics, or because of a special knitting pattern, or by combination of both methods.

It is apparent that this method according to the invention may be carried out only with tubular stockings knitted on a straight machine, as the tubular stockings knitted on circular machines are made of helical rows of loops.

FIG. 1 illustrates a tubular fabric of known type knitted on a straight knitting machine and comprising a dummy seam according to the invention.

FIG. 2 shows a stocking obtained after heat forming.

FIG. 3 illustrates the loop formation of the fabric as knitted on the machine, together with the dummy seam.

FIG. 4 shows an alternative embodiment of a stocking provided with a dummy seam according to the inventiont The tubular stitch fabric of known type shown in FIG. 1, is knitted on a two-bed straight knitting loom. This tubular fabric is made of two series of half-cylindrical flaps, respectively a1, b1, and a2, b2. Flaps a1 and b1 are knitted for example on the loom front needle-bed, and flaps a2 and b2 on the loom rear needle bed. Each flap of the first series is attached at both lateral ends to the corresponding flap of the second series, each junction being realized in the known manner along a narrow band 0 made of three yarns knitted alternately on the front and rear needle-bed. The loop formation in bands c is identical to the loop formation in flaps b1 and b2, so

that said bands c are invisible in practice on the sides of the resulting stocking, as illustrated in FIG. 2.

The tubular Warpknit fabric as shown in FIG. 1 may be made in a manner more fully described in French Patent No. 1,321,541 or British Patent No. 1,036,246.

An object of the invention is to provide such a stocking with a dummy seam S having the same appearance as the usual seam of the stockings of known type obtained by cutting and sewing a flat tricot fabric.

This object is accomplished by providing in the middle portion of the needle-bed corresponding to the leg rear face, a small number of yarns adapted to be knitted together with the stocking itself on which they remain distinctly apparent as a result of their own characteristics of colour, thickness, and/or knitting pattern. These (or this) special yarns may replace one or several of the normal yarns of the stocking, then passing through the corresponding guides of the normal loom guide-bar. They may be also threaded through a corresponding number of guides provided on an extra guide-bar; in this case, they are knitted in supplement to the normal yarns of the fabrics b2.

FIG. 3 shows the loop structure of the fabric b2 comprising two classes of yarns, namely yarns A1, A2, A3, A4 An of the class A, and yarns B1, B2, B3, B4 Bn of the class B. The dummy seam according to the invention is made of one supplementary yarn C, which may be:

Either threaded through the same guide as yarn B2 corresponding to the desired position on the stocking rear portion, i.e. the middle portion of fabric b2; or

Threaded through a guide of known type (not shown) provided on a supplementary guide-bar having the same movement as the guide-bar of the yarns in class B. In this case, said supplementary guide-bar has only one guide threaded relatively to the whole width of fabric b2, no similar supplementary guide-bar being provided for fabric b1.

The appearance of a dummy seam is a result of the double-knitting of yarns B2 and C. This appearance may be varied if desired by using a yarn C thicker than the yarns of class A and B, as shown in FIG. 3, and/or by giving yarn C a colour different from the stocking general colour.

Quite obviously, the above-mentioned supplementary guide-bar may be displaced in a movement different from the movement of the guide-bars corresponding to the yarns of the class A or B, thus knitting supplementary yarn C in a pattern different from the yarns A or B.

FIG. 4 shows the same loop structure of fabric b2, wherein the supplementary yarn C is not knitted properly speaking, but only inserted in the fabric between the two layers formed respectively by yarns A and B. For this purpose, it is sufficient to thread yarn C through a single guide of the above mentioned supplementary guide-bar of known type, said supplementary guide-bar being kept fixed and stationary.

Minor changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. For example, supplementary yarn C could be knitted in the same pattern as a yarn of class A. Moreover, the dummy seam object of the invention could be obtained by knitting: together with 'fabric b2, a small number of supplementary yarns C of various colour and size, according to any knitting pattern. Finally, the supplementary yarn or yarns C could be knitted in lieu of a number of yarns A and/or B, the latter having been suppressed. For example, it is possible to obtain such a dummy seam by giving yarn B2 (FIG. 3) a colour or size different from the other yarns class B, so that yarn C shown in FIG. 3 may be suppressed.

I claim:

1. A Warp-knit, seamless stocking having foot and leg portions including a base fabric section comprising successive courses having two groups of spaced apart wales, said groups being knit from sets of warp yarns to define front and rear portions of said stocking, and two groups of connecting wales disposed between the front and rear portions of said stockings, each group of connecting wales being knit from said sets of warp yarns and additional connecting warp yarns joining the front and rear portions to form a tube, said base fabric section being knit throughout of the same warp yarns and said set of warp yarns defining the rear portion of said stocking being provided with at least one additional yarn disposed in contact with and having the same concatenations as the centermost warp yarn of said set to define a mock seam in the middle of said rear portion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1890 Osborne 66-195 11/1891 Wilcomb 66--181 2/ 1918 Scott 66181 10/1925 Parker 66-181 FOREIGN PATENTS 7/ 1966 Great Britain. 12/1955 France.

7/ 1957 France.

2/ 1963 France.

WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner.

U.S. Cl. X.R. 

